The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has rejected the results of Saturday’s local government election in Ondo State, describing the outcome as “broad daylight robbery.” The election, conducted by the State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC), took place in all 18 local government areas (LGAs) and 203 political wards of the state.
Twelve political parties participated in the LG election, which saw a low turnout of voters due to the heavy presence of armed security agencies. ODIEC announced that the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmanship and councilorship candidates won in all the LGAs and wards.
Addressing journalists in Akure, Ebenezer Akinbuli, Chairman of SDP in the state, alleged that the LG election was marred by irregularities, harassment, and intimidation of opposition candidates. He emphasized that the results announced by ODIEC did not reflect the will of the people.
Akinbuli accused ODIEC of bias and collusion with the APC to rig the election in favor of the party’s candidates. “We condemn the outcome of the LG election because there was no strict compliance with the rules guiding the conduct of the exercise. It was a broad daylight robbery,” he stated. “We are calling for the cancellation of the election. They manipulated the governorship election held last year. Why not allow a free process for the LG election?”
He noted that in the monitored elections in Ondo East and Odigbo LGAs, there were no security agencies present at the polling units, leading to a low voter turnout. He expressed concern over the results being announced while SDP had not seen the actual results.
Akinbuli also reported widespread delays and harassment of SDP members by armed thugs allegedly working with the APC, recounting a personal experience where an SDP candidate was assaulted during the election. He demanded the removal of the ODIEC chairman for failing to conduct a free and credible election.
“We are agitating for the removal of the ODIEC chairman due to the electoral fraud perpetrated during the LG election. The election was fraudulent,” he stated, adding that presiding officers were not providing proper result sheets and were instead using blank sheets to write results.
He promised to approach the local government election tribunal for redress regarding the weekend’s poll. Efforts to reach the ODIEC chairman for comments were unsuccessful at the time of this report.
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa described the election as a step toward enhancing grassroots development and commended ODIEC for conducting the exercise, expressing his administration’s commitment to the effective running of the local government system in the state.
